Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dominique Shepherd. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Dominique, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I definitely wish I would have started sooner like in high school. I seriously started around early 2016 after leaving college for financial reasons. I was living with my sister and working at Walmart in Sterling Heights, MI. A friend of mine was doing a stage play and was looking for actors. I never done any serious acting but I always had interest. Working with her taught me a lot and really got me more into acting. I moved to Georgia a year later and the rest his history. I definitely think if I started back in high school at Cass Tech in Detroit and learning the craft at a younger age I think I’d be much better at it and my journey would’ve been totally different. Who knows maybe I would’ve been in a major show or movie by now like a few other Cass Tech alums like Daniel Bellamy, Chante Adams, Angela Lewis, and Nicco Annan to name a few. But either way I’m grateful to be where I’m at and have countless opportunities to grow and work.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Well my name is Dominique Shepherd but everyone close to me calls me Shep. I’m from Detroit, MI and a graduate of Cass Tech High School. I’m a Actor and I’ve been doing it for nearly 5yrs now. I started learning theater before focusing on Film and Television. The first big film I’ve ever worked on was The Hate U Give. I played one of the pallbearer. Even though it was an extra role I learned a lot from the experience. I worked as a Stand-In on the hit BET plus show Bigger for 2 seasons. Being a Stand-In taught me a lot about blocking and how to move on camera. Plus seeing the cast work up close and personal while developing a sort of friendship with them and learning has to be one of the best moments I ever had on set. Recently I’ve work on shows like Bettor Days on ESPN+ which was my first speaking role, For My Man, and Stranger Things as Lucas basketball stunt double. Just the other day I booked another speaking role for the show ATL Homicide. The things that set me apart from others I believe is my work ethic and my hunger to learn and get better. I’m competitive especially when it’s things I love doing so every audition and every role is a competition to show off my best work. It keeps me motivated and ready to get better every time. Plus I always have fun.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding part to me is the love and support I receive. Hearing my mom and siblings brag about me and my friends always showing loving and support. It’s a great feeling. All the congratulations, I’m so proud of you, and keep grindings really means a lot. It makes me feel like I can do anything.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
So there was this one time during my journey that I was homeless living in my car. So I was working on Season 1 of Bigger on BET and we had a little less than 2 months of filming left and I was living with a friend. Well that friend put me out and I was homeless for the next 5months. It was stressful and every part of me wanted to just go back home to Michigan and give up my dream. But I’m stubborn so I stayed and “thugged” it out. 5months later I got a new place and I’m being booked for a few gigs here and there. During that time though I was going through it and I felt completely alone. My love for acting and the opportunities here in Atlanta is what kept me going. I was also thinking like man this would be a great comeback story once I make it big.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @_ItsShep
- Facebook: Dominique Shepherd
- Twitter: @_ItsShep
- Other: TikTok: @__ItsShep